London: The Experience of a Lifetime Past Review
By Megan Q (Marketing., Providence College) for
Arcadia: London - London Internship Program
Regardless of how I felt about my study abroad program, the experience was without a doubt worthwhile. These have been the best and most exciting four months of my life. Taking a step outside of the United States really makes you put everything into perspective and you realize how much is really out there to see and explore. I am now more willing to step outside of my comfort zone.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The education system in the United Kingdom is very different from the American educational system. Rather than having a number of assignments throughout the semester, most classes had only one huge project or assessment at the end. As a student, you are expected to do most work outside of the classroom on your own time. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I was dissapointed with the on-site administration of my program. Arcadia was very disorganized and often left students to their own devices. While they did provide good information about the United Kingdom and the American higher education system, they had a complicated process to figure out signing up for classes for the semester. They were not the best at communicating to students. The administration was not very accessible. For instance, they gave us an emergency contact phone number that we were to use if something happened. They wanted us to call them prior to calling our parents back home in an emergency so that they would be informed of what was going on. When there was an emergency and a girl had a seizure, I called the number and no one answered or called back until the next afternoon. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Housing was in a good location in central London and I felt very safe, however the dorm rooms were extremely small. We were expected to use the kitchen to cook our meals, yet there was no oven. I needed to buy sheets in order to settle-in. |
| * Food: |
There was no meal plan with this program so we were expected to figure out meals on our own. This was not a problem at all with many grocery stores within proximity to where we lived. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Arcadia offered a number of cultural events within London and some weekend trips throughout the United Kingdom, though I did not participate in any of them. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I felt extremely safe in London. Students need to be aware of their surroundings just like they should in any major city. I was not pleased with my program's response to health issues which I discussed above. It would have made sense for them to answer the emergency phone number that they provided. All students in my program received a student health insurance plan for while we were abroad and that made it easy to find doctors when necessary. I went to a doctor when I had a bad cold and since it was a private doctor (not part of the NHS) it was very similar to the care we would receive in the US. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Students need to budget wisely and go into the experience realizing that they are going to spend a lot of money and there is no way around that. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | As long as you do not expect someone to walk you through your entire study abroad experience, this program was not too bad. I definitely gained so much more independence by living on my own in London for almost four months. |
